CHAPTER ELEVEN. THE FRIEND WHO STAYED
1050 Words
The Friend Who Stayed
Nathan answered before Elena could say hello.
“Tell me you're okay.”
Elena leaned against her bedroom door.
“I'm okay.”
“That's not convincing.”
Despite herself, she smiled.
“I'm alive.”
“Better. Still not convincing.”
She walked to the bed and sat down.
Nathan had been part of her life long enough to know when she was pretending. Usually, she appreciated that about him.
Today, it was inconvenient.
“Who told you?” she asked.
“Your mother told me the wedding was off. Maya told me to call you.”
Elena frowned. “Maya told you?”
“She said, and I quote, ‘Call your stubborn friend before I drive over there and drag her out myself.’”
“That sounds like her.”
“What happened?”
Elena picked at the edge of her bedsheet.
“Damien cheated.”
Nathan went silent.
“With Serena.”
The silence became heavier.
“You're joking.”
“I wish.”
“Your sister Serena?”
“Why does everyone keep asking me that?”
“Because I'm trying to give the universe an opportunity to correct itself.”
Elena laughed quietly.
Nathan didn't.
“How long?”
“Four months.”
“I'm going to kill him.”
“Please don't. Dad and Ethan are already forming a queue.”
“I'll wait my turn.”
“Nathan.”
“Fine. I won't kill him.”
She heard movement on his end.
“Where are you?”
“Home.”
“I'm coming over.”
“No.”
“Elena—”
“I've had enough people in this house today. Serena came. Damien came. I can't do another emotional conversation.”
Nathan paused.
“Okay.”
That surprised her.
“Okay?”
“I'm capable of respecting the word no.”
The words hit differently after everything Damien had said.
Elena swallowed.
“Thank you.”
“But you need to eat.”
“I ate.”
“What?”
She tried to remember.
Nothing came.
Nathan sighed. “Exactly.”
“I'll eat later.”
“I'm sending you food.”
“Nathan.”
“That wasn't a question.”
Before she could argue, he hung up.
Elena stared at the phone and smiled.
---
Across the city, Adrian sat at the head of a polished conference table while twelve people discussed numbers he had already memorized.
His father was speaking.
Adrian wasn't listening.
“Adrian.”
He looked up.
Victor Romano stared at him from the opposite end of the table.
“Yes?”
“I asked whether you agree.”
Adrian glanced at the presentation on the screen.
“The acquisition?”
Victor's eyebrow lifted.
James, seated two chairs away, carefully avoided looking at him.
“Yes,” Victor said. “The acquisition.”
“Not at that valuation.”
One of the executives shifted. “We believe the projected growth—”
“Is optimistic,” Adrian interrupted. “You're assuming a market expansion they haven't demonstrated. Reduce the offer or walk away.”
Silence followed.
Victor studied him.
“Good,” his father finally said. “At least part of you is here.”
Adrian's jaw tightened.
The meeting continued.
Afterward, Victor caught him before he reached the door.
“My office.”
“I have another meeting.”
“Move it.”
Adrian looked at James.
James suddenly became extremely interested in his tablet.
Ten minutes later, Adrian was sitting across from his father.
Victor poured himself a drink.
“Your mother says you've been ignoring her.”
“I called her back.”
“At ten-thirty.”
“I didn't realize she had office hours.”
Victor gave him an unimpressed look.
“What is going on with you?”
“Nothing.”
“You were distracted in there.”
“I still saved you from overpaying.”
“Our company.”
Adrian leaned back. “Was there something you actually wanted?”
“Yes. Dinner on Friday.”
Adrian groaned.
Victor's expression hardened. “Your mother invited Arabella Hayes and her parents.”
“Then I hope everyone has a wonderful evening.”
“You'll be there.”
“No.”
“Adrian.”
“I'm not marrying Arabella.”
“Nobody said anything about marriage.”
“You invited a woman I dated to a family dinner with her parents.”
Victor took a sip of his drink. “Your mother invited them.”
“That's somehow worse.”
Victor set the glass down.
“You're thirty-four. Eventually, you have to think beyond work.”
Adrian stood.
“I'll add it to my calendar.”
“That isn't what I meant.”
“I know.”
He left before his father could continue.
James was waiting outside.
“How bad?”
“My parents are trying to marry me off.”
“Again?”
Adrian shot him a look.
James cleared his throat. “Your car is ready.”
They started toward the elevator.
Adrian stopped.
“James.”
“Yes?”
He almost asked.
Again.
Find Elena.
He could have her full name by the end of the day.
Instead, Adrian remembered the way she'd looked at him when he offered his number.
She had wanted one night.
He had agreed.
“Nothing.”
James looked curious but didn't push.
---
Three weeks later, Elena stood in her bathroom staring at the calendar on her phone.
She counted the days again.
Then once more.
“No.”
Her period had never been this late.
Stress, she told herself.
Of course it was stress.
She had cancelled a wedding, blocked her ex-fiancé and barely spoken to her sister in three weeks.
Her body was reacting to everything.
That had to be it.
Elena put down the phone.
Then the smell of coffee drifted beneath the bathroom door.
Her stomach turned violently.
She barely reached the toilet before she threw up.
When it was over, Elena remained on the floor, breathing hard.
Her eyes slowly moved back to the phone.
The dates hadn't changed.
Neither had the memory of one night with a stranger.
“Adrian,” she whispered.
For the first time in three weeks, Elena was terrified.
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